Chicago police officers responding to assist federal agents who were surrounded by a crowd of protesters near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility were allegedly instructed to stand down, according to dispatch audio recordings and internal messages reviewed by reporters.
The Department of Homeland Security said the incident occurred Saturday on the city’s South Side, where a group of federal agents conducting a routine patrol “were attacked and rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars.”
The agents were patrolling about 15 miles from ongoing anti-ICE demonstrations outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview, a Chicago suburb, when the attack began.
According to federal officials, after agents attempted to escape their vehicle, a woman armed with a semi-automatic weapon allegedly tried to drive into them. She was shot by officers and later taken into custody.
Local police officers were initially preparing to assist the agents but were reportedly instructed to stand down by the department’s chief of patrol, according to the New York Post.
“Younger male Hispanic wearing all black … wanted for the hit-and-run, this guy fled from the scene,” a female dispatcher says in response to a call for assistance from the surrounded ICE agents, per audio shared by ExxAlerts on the X platform.
“When the offending vehicle crashed, they ran the federal agent off the road, they fled on foot westbound,” the dispatcher added.
In the dispatch recording, a male voice can be heard instructing the dispatcher to direct responding officers to approach the scene but to “stay put” a few blocks away and wait for further instructions. The dispatcher then relays those orders over the radio.
The male voice can then be heard moments later saying tersely: “Per the chief of patrol: Clear everybody out, we’re not responding over there.”
The female dispatcher then instructs Chicago PD officers responding to the distress call, “per the chief of patrol, all units clear out from there, we’re not sending anybody out to that location.”
But then, a male police officer can be heard responding over the sound of a wailing siren: “We’re going to clear out as soon as we can, we’re like blocked in over here, so we’re going to do the best we can to get out of here as soon as we can.”
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An internal Chicago Police Department memo obtained by Fox News confirmed that officers were instructed not to intervene, verifying the apparent stand-down order heard in the dispatch recordings.
“PLEASE CHIEF OF PATROL NO UNITS WILL RESPOND TO THIS AS RELATED FROM 04-Oc5-2025/12:34:44…CALLER IS 1 OF APPROX 30 ARMED PATROL AGENTS (ICE) WHO ARE BEING SURROUNDED BY A LARGE CROWD OF PEOPLE REQUESTING CPD,” said the dispatcher.
The Chicago Police Department disputed reports of a stand-down order, saying that its officers were present at the scene and provided assistance during the incident.
“To clarify misinformation currently circulating, CPD officers did in fact respond to the shooting scene involving federal authorities on Saturday to maintain public safety and traffic control,” the department told Fox in a statement.
“The Chicago Police Department will always respond to anyone who is being attacked or is under the threat of physical harm,” the department added. “For incidents involving federal immigration enforcement, CPD supervisors will respond to the scene and determine the appropriate course of action in accordance with City law.”
Trump officials said that 10 vehicles had surrounded the federal agents. Video posted online shows at least one vehicle ramming an ICE truck.
“Today in Chicago, members of our brave law enforcement were attacked — rammed and boxed in by ten vehicles, including an attacker with a semi-automatic weapon,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X in response to the attack.
She went on to pledge that more resources would be sent to Chicago.